jenseib Posted January 27, 2020 Author #26 Share Posted January 27, 2020 Then it was time to go to the back of the ship to our laser tag appointment. inaug204 by Jenseib, on Flickr inaug205 by Jenseib, on Flickr inaug206 by Jenseib, on Flickr We were early and there wasn’t a session going on yet, so we asked if we could go in and take some pictures. I only got night pictures here, but I believe Cass came back and got day ones another day. inaug207 by Jenseib, on Flickr The theme is Atlantis and I’m still not real sure what a serpent has to do with Atlantis. inaug208 by Jenseib, on Flickr inaug209 by Jenseib, on Flickr inaug210 by Jenseib, on Flickr inaug211 by Jenseib, on Flickr inaug212 by Jenseib, on Flickr It was then time to strap up and get our guns. We had to watch a quick video and then we were given a few more instructions and let loose. inaug213 by Jenseib, on Flickr We had a lot of fun, but it was way too short. They had a score board that went with your gun number. Mine did not match…because if it was me, my gun was not functioning. Oh well….we had a lot of fun. Next up was our go-cart ride. inaug214 by Jenseib, on Flickr inaug215 by Jenseib, on Flickr We still had time I believe, so took a few pictures. inaug216 by Jenseib, on Flickr It looks so pretty all lit up. inaug217 by Jenseib, on Flickr This band was playing good music. inaug218 by Jenseib, on Flickr inaug219 by Jenseib, on Flickr inaug220 by Jenseib, on Flickr inaug221 by Jenseib, on Flickr We went to check in and were told no phones, cameras or anything on us. And they would not let us leave it on the ledge (though others had). Cass pointed that out and he said he wants to put a stop to that right now. UGH! He acted like he might have a little too much power in his own mind. inaug222 by Jenseib, on Flickr inaug223 by Jenseib, on Flickr We scuttled off to our room to drop off everything. Our beds had been turned into twins and we had a few goodies waiting for us. inaug224 by Jenseib, on Flickr inaug225 by Jenseib, on Flickr Of course our room is forward and the race track is aft, so we made the trek back and then got assigned to our cars. I will give you my experience, but I want to let you know that Cass LOVED it. I am not a tiny person, but I fit in the seat, I just felt cramped with the way my legs were in. Then they handed me a helmet and I told them it didn’t fit. He told me it would and slammed it back on my head and started pushing. I yanked it and said NO it doesn’t fit. You can push all you want but it’s not the size of my head. They brought me another which fit perfectly. Once we took off I was one of the first cars. Cass passed me immediately. She was whizzing all over the place. My car didn’t seem to have the speed that others did. Could be my weight (though there were some big guys in some of these) or I just had a dud. I have heard people can shoot your car from the side and it will make it go faster. I guess I never got that speed boost. Then turning…..no power steering and my arms were dying by the end. And it had a ton of turns. Over all…I am glad I did it, but it’s not for me. It was too much work and my arms hurt for 2 days after from it. We then rushed back to our room to get out phones and we heard booms….are we moving? We weren’t supposed to leave till midnight and fireworks were scheduled for 11 I think. We knew we would cut it close for fireworks but we were surprised to be moving. We quickly headed up to see that yes we were moving and fireworks were going off. inaug226 by Jenseib, on Flickr They didn’t time it right. They had a barge on each side putting off fireworks but we were so far back and with the front of the ship so big, it was impossible to see it very well. They should had started them a little later. inaug227 by Jenseib, on Flickr I tried to take some video of it. inaug228 by Jenseib, on Flickr They were better than Disney’s but then again, they shoot them right off the ship. At one time I swore I heard pirate music. Even though they started them too soon, it was super cool and we felt special! We then kind of chilled and listened to music. inaug154 by Jenseib, on Flickr And took pictures of Miami as we sailed away. inaug155 by Jenseib, on Flickr inaug156 by Jenseib, on Flickr inaug157 by Jenseib, on Flickr inaug158 by Jenseib, on Flickr 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenseib Posted January 27, 2020 Author #27 Share Posted January 27, 2020 We then just walked around a bit and people watched. inaug159 by Jenseib, on Flickr inaug160 by Jenseib, on Flickr inaug161 by Jenseib, on Flickr inaug162 by Jenseib, on Flickr inaug164 by Jenseib, on Flickr Cass wanted to show me the observation lounge so we headed that way. inaug166 by Jenseib, on Flickr inaug167 by Jenseib, on Flickr I guess they sometimes have snacks out here, but I rarely saw any anywhere in the lounge. They did have some basic breakfast items in the morning though. inaug168 by Jenseib, on Flickr inaug169 by Jenseib, on Flickr inaug170 by Jenseib, on Flickr There were a few monitors around the ship to show where the ship was. inaug171 by Jenseib, on Flickr inaug172 by Jenseib, on Flickr The lounge is HUGE. It takes quite a bit of each side and meets in the front. inaug173 by Jenseib, on Flickr inaug174 by Jenseib, on Flickr Another snack area. This one did have snacks out every so often. inaug175 by Jenseib, on Flickr And a bar right up front too. inaug176 by Jenseib, on Flickr inaug177 by Jenseib, on Flickr inaug178 by Jenseib, on Flickr Cass went off and I lingered a little more and found a model of the ship. inaug179 by Jenseib, on Flickr I thought I took more pictures…maybe not? Or maybe I did another day. I headed back to the room and grabbed a 20 and told Cass I was going to go gamble. I am horrible, but I do like to play the slots. Since I know I am bad, I rarely will spend more than $20- 30 per day. It’s basically a donation when it comes to my skills. It didn’t take long and I was back in the room. Cass laughed at how fast my $20 went. We were beat and so tired and went to bed…except I think we kept chatting and laughing till after midnight. It was so much fun though! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenseib Posted January 28, 2020 Author #28 Share Posted January 28, 2020 Nov. 22, 2019, Day at Sea I will put a disclaimer out now. I recently got a new phone…. after this cruise. I tried to transfer the pics off the phone I used on the cruise to my computer and my computer is past its prime and it was having issues. I tried to back up the pictures to the cloud as well and it kept stalling out. I thought since I transferred pics to my computer, I would be ok just deleting a bunch…..I’m sure you know where I am going. Yep, many pictures didn’t make it to the computer and now are lost forever! I still have a bunch of pictures from this day, but I am missing many and I may have gaps in the day that I now can’t remember what we did without the picture trigger. Cass wanted to watch the sunrise, and I am not sure if she actually made it or not. I know she set her alarm each day and I told her to wake me, but she let me sleep and so I think I missed most of the sunrises on this short cruise. We headed off to breakfast. The last NCL cruise I was on was on the Jewel. I remember that the whipped cream was the best stuff ever! It was super sugary and just delicious! I was hoping it still would be like that this time around. sea1 by Jenseib, on Flickr It did not disappoint! sea7 by Jenseib, on Flickr When it comes to cruise ship breakfast I pretty much have the same thing daily. I get a waffle or pancake (or both), sausage, and a hash brown type item or any combination of the above. Sometimes I get a donut as well if it is offered. I did try the bacon this time because it looked fairly crispy and I like super crispy bacon. After we were done filling ourselves up, Cass went to water pick and I walked around. We had laughed about these signs on the floor. Don’t dance on the bacon is my interpretation. sea17 by Jenseib, on Flickr Today they were offering classes and talks by some of the big wigs onboard. The original schedule I had gotten didn’t look to bad and I thought I might try to do one of the talks. They changed the time once onboard and I just couldn’t go that early and sit in a theatre with 100’s of people that early in the day. I was told from several that they learned no new information, so it really wasn’t all that great, except that they went to a live talk rather than watching it online. I decided it was time to take some pictures around the ship…except that I didn’t get too far and got distracted. sea73 by Jenseib, on Flickr sea74 by Jenseib, on Flickr This bar was popular. In the evenings I could hear music (often a live entertainer) and people singing along. sea50 by Jenseib, on Flickr sea75 by Jenseib, on Flickr sea76 by Jenseib, on Flickr sea77 by Jenseib, on Flickr There was a photo booth in this bar too. I forget if I looked at the price or not, but I do know I heard it was kind of expensive for a novelty thing. sea51 by Jenseib, on Flickr sea78 by Jenseib, on Flickr sea79 by Jenseib, on Flickr sea80 by Jenseib, on Flickr This is Maltings Whiskey Bar. This was more midship in the 678 area. sea81 by Jenseib, on Flickr sea52 by Jenseib, on Flickr sea53 by Jenseib, on Flickr sea82 by Jenseib, on Flickr There was some unusual art around the ship. sea83 by Jenseib, on Flickr This is that hangy thing again. sea54 by Jenseib, on Flickr The Mojito bar, Sugar Cane. sea84 by Jenseib, on Flickr I have never had a mojito and I kept saying I will get one this cruise to give it a try. After all, I wasn’t paying for it, so now is the time to do it. It never worked out. I went once to get one and it was one bartender and the area was busy and I just wanted to grab it to take with me. I had no time to wait, and other times it was closed when I thought about it. So it never happened. sea85 by Jenseib, on Flickr sea86 by Jenseib, on Flickr And the lovely light fixture. Hahahaha sea87 by Jenseib, on Flickr sea88 by Jenseib, on Flickr The shops were open so I went to look. On the outside in the hallway they had Encore themed items. This was the only area that had anything I was interested in. I ended up getting 2 t-shirts, a magnet and a Christmas ornament. I think that’s all I bought. I did get a discount on Encore themed items being that I was silver. I didn’t get this shirt, but it was cute. sea55 by Jenseib, on Flickr Cass met up with me and we looked around in the stores. She asked if they had the charm bracelets like she bought for me when she sailed the Escape but no one seemed to know what she was talking about, so I will take that as a no. We did some more looking around. sea93 by Jenseib, on Flickr The Cavern is there where the Beatles cover band plays. sea89 by Jenseib, on Flickr sea90 by Jenseib, on Flickr We never made it to this show, but someone told me that each night they played a different era of Beatles music and had the look to go with that era. Actually, one lady told me each band was different when they changed eras too. It wasn’t the same guys every night. sea91 by Jenseib, on Flickr I hear this is extremely popular and you better arrive early if you want a chance to see it. sea92 by Jenseib, on Flickr 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenseib Posted January 28, 2020 Author #29 Share Posted January 28, 2020 Cass and I were playing with taking pictures of the chandelier. It was white, but it would come out blue on our phones and even somewhat on my cameras. I used photoshop to try and get it back to white. Throughout the day you will see we kept taking pictures as we went by it. As you go up the steps, you can literally touch the light. It is like a hard plastic with bumps….though it really looks like bubble wrap, with snaps on it. Really strange. sea72 by Jenseib, on Flickr sea57 by Jenseib, on Flickr There are 2 rumors going around about what it is to represent. One is that it is supposed to be like roses. …..I don’t see it, except maybe when it turns red. The other is that it is to represent ocean trash and make you aware to keep the oceans clean. Well, it does look like trash to me! Hahaha! Really though, I can’t believe they approved this! sea97 by Jenseib, on Flickr Ocean Blue is an upcharge dining option. I would have loved to have tried this, but it wasn’t meant to be. sea95 by Jenseib, on Flickr sea96 by Jenseib, on Flickr The casino! sea98 by Jenseib, on Flickr It was kind of laid out different than other ships I have been on. It was in the 678 area and just all around the floor and some machines are randomly here or there. It wasn’t an actual casino room. There was a closed off room though for the smokers with machines in there too. sea99 by Jenseib, on Flickr This is the guest services area again. We wanted to peak in on Starbucks to see how crowded it was. sea100 by Jenseib, on Flickr We didn’t want anything, just curious. It was busy ALL the time. sea101 by Jenseib, on Flickr sea102 by Jenseib, on Flickr sea103 by Jenseib, on Flickr sea104 by Jenseib, on Flickr We moved on then and walked by Q BBQ. I have heard mixed things about this place. sea105 by Jenseib, on Flickr Some say it’s fantastic, but I hear more people say it’s not too good and generic bbq. I never went inside to look but I think Cass did at another time. Food Republic. sea58 by Jenseib, on Flickr sea106 by Jenseib, on Flickr sea107 by Jenseib, on Flickr sea108 by Jenseib, on Flickr sea109 by Jenseib, on Flickr Now this picture of offerings….it looks like playdough. sea110 by Jenseib, on Flickr I am hoping the food really doesn’t come out like that. I like sushi, but this looked odd to me. sea71 by Jenseib, on Flickr Out on deck 8, if you look up you can see the slide. sea59 by Jenseib, on Flickr I never saw this gelato place open and there was a bakery that I never saw open either. sea111 by Jenseib, on Flickr Now this is the time I lost some phone pictures. Cass and I went to the back of the ship and just enjoyed the view and stood on the see through glass. sea112 by Jenseib, on Flickr I lost my picture, but here is the one Cass took. cass4 by Jenseib, on Flickr sea60 by Jenseib, on Flickr I believe there was a window looking down at the Manhattan room (one of the main dining rooms) from there and we looked down. I am pretty sure I snapped a picture and it is forever lost! We lingered here a while and then went to the front of the ship to the observation lounged to just chill….and have a snack. sea11 by Jenseib, on Flickr I got another Mango Meltdown. MMMM! They are so tasty. We moved on then. This is the hallway towards Cagneys and Los Lobos. sea113 by Jenseib, on Flickr The A-List bar is between them. sea61 by Jenseib, on Flickr sea62 by Jenseib, on Flickr sea63 by Jenseib, on Flickr Cagney’s is the one place I would always recommend. Sooooo good! Los Lobos is getting mixed reviews currently. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenseib Posted January 28, 2020 Author #30 Share Posted January 28, 2020 We walked down the Manhattan room. sea114 by Jenseib, on Flickr Of course a private function was going to start, but I took a peek in anyways. sea64 by Jenseib, on Flickr sea115 by Jenseib, on Flickr It has a very different feel than the other 2 dining rooms. And a little more exploring. sea65 by Jenseib, on Flickr sea116 by Jenseib, on Flickr Le Bistro. Cass said it was located at a different spot on the Encore. sea122 by Jenseib, on Flickr sea118 by Jenseib, on Flickr sea119 by Jenseib, on Flickr sea120 by Jenseib, on Flickr sea121 by Jenseib, on Flickr sea66 by Jenseib, on Flickr This sign directed you towards the American Diner. I thought it looked pretty cool. sea117 by Jenseib, on Flickr sea123 by Jenseib, on Flickr sea124 by Jenseib, on Flickr sea125 by Jenseib, on Flickr sea67 by Jenseib, on Flickr sea126 by Jenseib, on Flickr This is the running trail around the ship. It’s kind of weird as it runs around through lounge chairs. sea68 by Jenseib, on Flickr The top outside decks are kind of set up a bit strange because each thing takes up space. They are great things like the speedway, water slides and laser tag, but it leaves very little room for pools and lounging in the sun. sea70 by Jenseib, on Flickr The pool has some strange sculptures too. sea127 by Jenseib, on Flickr There are 2 pools but only one is deep. Cass said the other is like 2 ft deep or something like that. sea128 by Jenseib, on Flickr Not much pool space for the amount of people this ship holds. They did have hot tubs as well and I believe kids can go in these too. sea129 by Jenseib, on Flickr sea130 by Jenseib, on Flickr sea131 by Jenseib, on Flickr There were bars at each end of the pool deck too. sea132 by Jenseib, on Flickr sea134 by Jenseib, on Flickr We were walking around and Cass, who is always good with noticing things, says “There’s Andy!” Now Cass hates to have her picture taken and I am not a fan, but I sure as heck won’t miss a chance with Andy! I handed her my camera and after he was done talking to someone else, I asked if I could get a picture with him. sea49 by Jenseib, on Flickr He was very nice and I did some small chatting with him and told him we would miss him when he left, but I didn’t want to keep him. Also, a few years ago at a convention, my friends and I saw Adolfo from Carnival out, and we asked for a pic with him…and when we got done there was a line up. I am sure he was thrilled about that! Hahaha. Here’s my Adolfo picture for a few years back. We did it at the Carnival booth and they printed them out right there and gave a little frame. cw5 by Jenseib, on Flickr We headed back to the room for a bit. I wanted to drop off the big camera and we waited a little bit for lunch. I saw a big ship out in the distance. sea3 by Jenseib, on Flickr Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenseib Posted January 28, 2020 Author #31 Share Posted January 28, 2020 Today was going to be the Seafood Buffet. We had seen pictures of this from the previous specialty sailings and I was all in! It was not having the normal offerings that they do for a regular cruise. This was going to be the good stuff! Cass doesn’t really eat seafood, so she was coming with me for moral support. We headed down and it was already crowded. I got in line at the first pod and had to wait for quite a bit. I should have gone down to one of the other ones further in and I am sure the line would have gone faster. Cass went and got a table. sea15 by Jenseib, on Flickr It was all decorated. sea12 by Jenseib, on Flickr sea14 by Jenseib, on Flickr A lady came up and asked if the crabs were still moving. Hunh? She said they were walking around a little earlier and trying to escape the display. OMG…I thought it was all just plastic décor but it was real and they weren’t even dead yet when they made it up! sea8 by Jenseib, on Flickr Then I started to smell a fishy smell. Like rotting fish. One fish further down the line of décor had its eye hanging out. That’s enough to make you sick. The smell was getting pretty bad and I actually thought about skipping out. I was also having migraines this trip and some made me nauseous to begin with and this wasn’t helping. I stayed in line though. I would never have a chance to eat a seafood buffet like this again in my life! sea6 by Jenseib, on Flickr There was lobster, snow crab, king crab….to name a few. sea18 by Jenseib, on Flickr sea13 by Jenseib, on Flickr I also lost a lot of pictures from this time period, but luckily I posted several to Instagram and Facebook and could find them there. sea44 by Jenseib, on Flickr It was delicious! It is a lot of work eating crab, but yum yum yum. I think I went back and grabbed more crab, but some things I only took a bite. I tried a lot but I had my favorites. Desserts! sea9 by Jenseib, on Flickr sea10 by Jenseib, on Flickr sea16 by Jenseib, on Flickr After I was rolling out, we were going to go to the American Diner for Cass to have lunch. When we got there it was closed! Bummer! I was going to get some fries or something to try. Oh well, we decided on the Local then and went and got a table. We ordered the pretzels with cheese. sea43 by Jenseib, on Flickr Sadly, they weren’t good. The cheese sauce was weird and the pretzels were just not flavorful. I noticed on the menu they had a grilled cheese with tomato. I mentioned to Cass that I thought it was weird and Skip (my husband) is the only person I know who has ever talked about that and wanted one. I guess he’s not so odd after all. I was a bit surprised when Cass ordered it. sea45 by Jenseib, on Flickr When it arrived, Cass said, this isn’t what I ordered. I was puzzled and said yes, grilled cheese with tomato. Then she realized her mistake. She thought it was grilled cheese with tomato soup! Hahahahaha! She tried it and was not impressed. I believe she ordered something else then, that was better, but not great. I got dessert and this cheesecake was devine! sea19 by Jenseib, on Flick I also got a drink with my snacks. I can’t remember the name but it had citrus juices, including grapefruit juice, if I remember correctly. sea135 by Jenseib, on Flickr It was tasty. Not something I would order often, but it was still good. I like drinks that taste like punch, if I can taste liquor than I usually don’t like it. We now were full…or at least I was…and the migraine was going strong, so we headed back to the room to chill out. I decided to take a little nap and hope that my head would be a little better after that. I set my alarm and went out. I got a cat nap but woke up feeling awful. Head was still pounding, and I was super nauseous. It felt like the citrus drink had mixed wrong with everything in my stomach….aka the seafood! I told Cass I was going to get some fresh air out on the balcony. I just knew that would make me feel better. I stumbled out and plopped on a chair, leaving the door open. (I always have a fear of being locked out). This is when I met one of our neighbors. As soon as I sat down I realized I was facing the wrong way. The sun was beating right in my eyes! I then hear the neighbor on his balcony and he goes “I hear you! Where are you? I know you are out here!” He is looking up and down and to the other side, but not at towards me, but I piped up and said “I’m over here”. He then introduces himself and starts talking. I am sitting cocked over in the chair with my hand over my eyes to block the sun. He is talking away and I just feel awful and my head is pounding, but I was being polite and talking to him. He was nice, just caught me at a bad moment. Then he looks at me and says “Are you Drunk?” hahahaha.. “No, I just have the sun right in my eyes and it’s hard to see you” and my thought in my head was …no, I ate too much seafood! He says, “well why are you sitting in that chair, move to the other so the sun isn’t bothering you. So I did and he kept talking. I felt rude with my back to him. Then he brings his wife out and introduces her and again, I try to look around to see her but it’s impossible with the beating sun. We chat a bit, both of us are invited to a cocktail party this afternoon. She is getting dressed up for it, and I planned to go in jean shorts. They finally leave and I don’t feel any better with all the effort to be polite and make small talk. I walked back in the room and Cass is totally laughing that he asked me if I was drunk. She couldn’t believe he asked such a thing. And if I had been, what business was it of his? LOL!!!! I still felt awful and decided the only way to feel better was to throw up. I headed into the bathroom….and after a while succeeded in that task. This is the first cruise I have ever gotten sick and thrown up…and it wasn’t from alcohol or sea sickness….it was too much seafood! But I am sure the migraines had a lot to do with it too. I told Cass what I did and she was shocked ….and kind of laughing too. But I did feel better. I do have nausea meds for the migraines, but that was sitting at home on my kitchen counter, so you know….that did me no good! At some point today, Cass said she found Cagney’s reservations on the app and booked it. Yippee! After a bit of resting and chatting, I decided I better go to this cocktail party. I had been specially invited and I should at least go for a little bit. sea39 by Jenseib, on Flickr It was held in the observation lounge, towards the front of the ship on the port side. sea46 by Jenseib, on Flickr There were tons of people talking and laughing and mingling and drinking. There were some super dressed up and some like me in just cruise day clothes. I didn’t recognize anyone there. I had met various people so far and talked to them, but I didn’t spot a single one now. I just found a seat and plopped down and watched the view. sea20 by Jenseib, on Flickr I did sip on a glass of champagne, but otherwise it was pretty boring. A couple other, out of place ladies, sat down by me and we all twiddled our thumbs. They did have a speaker and he mostly congratulated people I didn’t know. After I spent what I figured was enough time I headed back to the room. It would have been different if I knew others, but I did not and I just wasn’t feeling it. Back at the room, we watched the beautiful sun set. sea2 by Jenseib, on Flickr sea4 by Jenseib, on Flickr My neighbor and his wife were not back yet, but I never did see them at the party either. sea5 by Jenseib, on Flickr sea42 by Jenseib, on Flickr sea22 by Jenseib, on Flickr I watched the sun dip lower and lower. For this next picture I said it looked like we were on Tatuine because it looked like 2 suns going down. sea23 by Jenseib, on Flickr sea24 by Jenseib, on Flickr It was time to make our way to Cagneys. Again, to remind you all, they were telling us we could not make dining reservations this cruise. I talked to others who said they were given hard times as well but some said if you stood your ground and bugged them, they may give in. We headed off to check in and there was no record of our reservation. Of course it didn’t show up on the app, but it did show on our TV screen. I even said I would go take a picture and she kept saying they had all reservations filled and an event would be going on taking all tables. I believe our reservation was for 5:30. We weren’t the only ones there either. There were several that had 5:30 reservations and were turned away. One group just kept on them and finally they said they would make room for them. It wasn’t too hard….since the dining room was empty! So I said what about us and they kind of went with the spiel of it being full for the night. I kind of just let them know that I saw no one there and we would be quick….and basically wasn’t going to leave till we had been seated and ate! She then asks for our room number again and takes us to a seat. Yippee! Now before I go on with the food, I want to say that we were there probably just over an hour or so. At 5:30, I believe just us and the other group was seated. At 6, I think 1 or 2 tables were seated. At 6:30, I don’t think anyone was seated. That’s it! The restaurant was EMPTY. We could see a section set up for a large party, but they had to have come at 7 or later. Why aren’t they seating people????? Why turn them away? Our waitress was very nice and she brought over rolls and took our orders. sea41 by Jenseib, on Flickr I believe I got the lobster bisque. sea25 by Jenseib, on Flickr It wasn’t like bisque I have had before and wasn’t that great, so I only ate a bit. Cass got her tomato soup that she had wanted for lunch! sea26 by Jenseib, on Flickr We both got the filet. sea27 by Jenseib, on Flickr And the garlic au gratin potatoes. sea28 by Jenseib, on Flickr The food was awesome! But I was still worried about my stomach and only at a small portion. I wish I could have eaten more, but I just wanted to be sure I could handle it. Cass got dessert and I passed. sea29 by Jenseib, on Flickr 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenseib Posted January 28, 2020 Author #32 Share Posted January 28, 2020 We wanted to see the comedian tonight so we dashed down and got there early enough to get a seat. However we wanted to stay in the back as we planned to watch Kinky Boots later and would have to leave this show a little early. sea30 by Jenseib, on Flickr The first guy was just ok. He was kind of raunchy and I saw a group of people get up and leave when he was getting a little vulgar. I can handle it, but he really needs to think about what all people will take. The second guy, who was the main attraction….HILARIOUS! He was talking about how we would be going to NCL’s island tomorrow and just across the way you are going to see one of the coolest islands ever and wonder why you can’t go to that one instead. (That would be Perfect Day at Coco Cay by Royal Caribbean). He just kept making jokes about it and everyone was laughing. He did some other funny stuff, and one I remember is talking about where people were from and one guy has like 1/16 Indian or something like that. Then the comedian starts going “1 little, 2 little, 3 little Indians”. Everyone was cracking up. He asked someone who was in her 20’s if she knew the song and she didn’t. He was talking about being politically correct and how the younger generation doesn’t know common things we grew up with….like sitting Indian style, which is now criss cross applesauce. And they don’t know the counting song using Indians….and he asked if we all would like to sing it for her. Heck yeah! So we all sang it….and were laughing so much! If you don’t know the song, then here it is. This is a jazzier version…but you get the idea. It was a lot of fun and I hated that we had to leave a few minutes early. We arrived at the theatre and checked in and then found seats near the front. sea31 by Jenseib, on Flickr They had a ton of reserved seating and probably half of it never was filled. sea32 by Jenseib, on Flickr The show was fun and had a lot of catchy tunes. In my opinion it was a little too long. I believe it was 2 hours, maybe a bit more. For a cruise ship show, that is long. There were a few slower parts and I think they could have taken some of it out to shorten it. Now this show is about Drag Queens. I have no issue with the topic, but I have read some people are upset with this show and topic and that it is not family friendly. I would take my daughter, but she just turned 15. I probably would have taken her when she was younger, but it just depends on your family style. So early in the show I asked Cass how many did she think were girls verses guys dressed up in drag. She said all were girls except the main one. I told her no, I am pretty sure at least half were guys…but some were so beautiful, it really was hard to tell. As the show went on, we eliminated more and more and by the end we concluded the “Drag Queen group” were all really guys! No pictures during the show, but I snap them when they come out to bow. sea33 by Jenseib, on Flickr sea34 by Jenseib, on Flickr sea35 by Jenseib, on Flickr sea36 by Jenseib, on Flickr And our cruise director came out to talk. I don’t remember his name and I rarely saw him this whole cruise. sea37 by Jenseib, on Flickr We had gone to the late show, so it was late tonight. We slowly made our way to exit but in no rush to be swarmed with crowds. sea38 by Jenseib, on Flickr I think we actually went up the outer side and got out pretty quickly. I had planned to take my $20 to gamble tonight, but it was too late and I was too tired. We decided to call it a night. Today was just a sea day and this is the route we went….actually I think this was taken right before we got to the island tomorrow, but you get the idea. cass3 by Jenseib, on Flickr The sailing before us complained how rough the seas were the whole time. They also had a bit cooler weather. I guess people were getting sick. For us, it was like floating on glass. We putted along slowly and had really no waves and it was easy to forget you are on a moving ship. It was one of the smoothest cruises I have ever been on. I guessed we totally lucked out! Tonight we were too tired to stay up and talk. We had one more day of fun tomorrow and I was super excited about my upcoming excursion! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smrtypnts Posted January 29, 2020 #33 Share Posted January 29, 2020 On 1/27/2020 at 11:09 AM, jenseib said: I now tried to look at some of the specialty dining venues. I never made it to all of them and some I walked by the outside but never got pictures. This is Cellars I believe, which is a wine bar if memory serves me right. inaug148 by Jenseib, on Flickr A lot of places had signs like this each day. With so many special people onboard they had a lot of private functions. inaug149 by Jenseib, on Flickr inaug150 by Jenseib, on Flickr This is NCL’s new restaurant, Onda. I hear it’s great, but it wasn’t meant to be for us. inaug131 by Jenseib, on Flickr inaug151 by Jenseib, on Flickr inaug152 by Jenseib, on Flickr Back to the room! Follow the fishes! One thing I did not like was the narrow halls. The doorways indented in and if someone was walking towards you, one would have to duck into a doorway to let the other pass. Luckily, we didn’t have to put bags in the hall this trip, but I can’t imagine how people can easily get down the hall if bags are all sitting along the walls. inaug117 by Jenseib, on Flickr inaug118 by Jenseib, on Flickr Our event was going to start soon. We chilled in the room a bit and got dressed into a little bit dressier clothes. Cass said she did read on one of our handouts that they did not want people to wear shorts to this. We enjoyed our balcony a bit. My pictures came out super overexposed and I tried to fix them as best I could. miami37 by Jenseib, on Flickr miami38 by Jenseib, on Flickr miami39 by Jenseib, on Flickr miami40 by Jenseib, on Flickr miami41 by Jenseib, on Flickr Over exposed? Super overexposed? No way!!! These are some of the best pictures ever!!! On a separate note--You should seriously consider becoming or trying your hand at being a cruise ship blogger! You are amazing. Once you have enough viewership/readers, you'll get paid to place ads and maybe cruise ships would give you free cruises to rate and write about them!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenseib Posted January 29, 2020 Author #34 Share Posted January 29, 2020 14 hours ago, smrtypnts said: Thanks! I am not even sure I would know how to go about doing a real blog with a lot of followers. I do have one that I usually post my stuff on after the fact (and terrible at keeping it up) but I am not savvy enough to do it so others can see and follow it. Maybe I can look into it more if I get some free time ...hahaha 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenseib Posted January 29, 2020 Author #35 Share Posted January 29, 2020 Nov. 23, 2019, Great Stirrup Cay Today was our only island day! I got up and watched as we got closer and closer. gs2 by Jenseib, on Flickr Then I went to get a bite to eat. They have hand washing stations now on their newer ships. gs3 by Jenseib, on Flickr I never once saw a washy washy person, which NCL is famous for. I am not sure if they are doing away with them, or if they just didn’t bring them out this sailing. I got a plate of food and set down to eat. gs5 by Jenseib, on Flickr With a beautiful view. gs4 by Jenseib, on Flickr After I was done, I decided to take a few pictures. This is the ice-cream machine. I have no clue if it ever was open or not this sailing. gs1 by Jenseib, on Flickr gs6 by Jenseib, on Flickr I went and signed out a towel. This process is odd because you sign it out, but they have bins on the island to throw them in or they take them from your stateroom, so I am not sure how they keep track if you return or not. gs7 by Jenseib, on Flickr gs8 by Jenseib, on Flickr gs9 by Jenseib, on Flickr gs10 by Jenseib, on Flickr gs11 by Jenseib, on Flickr This port is a tender port, so we don’t get too close. gs12 by Jenseib, on Flickr And the “other” island. gs13 by Jenseib, on Flickr It really is sooo close! Another shot of the running track. gs14 by Jenseib, on Flickr gs15 by Jenseib, on Flickr Tenders are coming. gs16 by Jenseib, on Flickr gs25 by Jenseib, on Flickr This is how you open doors out to the deck. You put your hand there and it turns green and it opens! gs17 by Jenseib, on Flickr Since I had an excursion, my excursion ticket allowed me to get on a tender at any time. Those who didn’t had to get a ticket or wait till they no longer were calling numbers. Cass was just here a few weeks before and she had a heck of a time getting off. There was also another ship in port and she said it was a mess. I believe it took over an hour before she got on her tender and then the island was just too crowded. On top of that, people were smoking everywhere! Even IN the water. Now I have no issues with anyone that smokes, but I do expect smokers to smoke in designated areas. I do also know that many of these islands do not have the same smoking laws that the US has, but I did see designated smoking areas on the island. I headed off to catch a tender and it was walk on. I texted Cass and she couldn’t believe how easy I got onto one. gs18 by Jenseib, on Flickr And off we went! gs19 by Jenseib, on Flickr I never was able to get any good shots of the ship from the tender. gs20 by Jenseib, on Flickr gs196 by Jenseib, on Flickr gs21 by Jenseib, on Flickr Our tender was full and many were crew heading to the island to work. gs198 by Jenseib, on Flickr gs199 by Jenseib, on Flickr We go into a little cove type area to get to the island. gs201 by Jenseib, on Flickr gs202 by Jenseib, on Flickr Once we got to the island I had to walk around the crew to actually get in to the official area. gs22 by Jenseib, on Flickr I stopped to get this cute picture of this crew member. gs88 by Jenseib, on Flickr gs89 by Jenseib, on Flickr gs26 by Jenseib, on Flickr 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenseib Posted January 29, 2020 Author #36 Share Posted January 29, 2020 They did have a table set up with waters for everyone and I grabbed one and set out to look around. gs91 by Jenseib, on Flickr gs27 by Jenseib, on Flickr There’s our ship! gs92 by Jenseib, on Flickr It’s a beautiful island. gs204 by Jenseib, on Flickr gs206 by Jenseib, on Flickr gs205 by Jenseib, on Flickr They were setting up an extra spot to serve lunch items. gs207 by Jenseib, on Flickr They have zipline from this lighthouse. gs208 by Jenseib, on Flickr gs212 by Jenseib, on Flickr gs217 by Jenseib, on Flickr gs215 by Jenseib, on Flickr I believe this island just recently won an award for best cruise line island. gs209 by Jenseib, on Flickr gs210 by Jenseib, on Flickr My personal opinion though is Castaway Cay is nicer. gs211 by Jenseib, on Flickr I felt that they didn’t have enough beach areas for everyone, especially if 2 ships are in port. gs213 by Jenseib, on Flickr They do have a lot of activities though…..see the people way out there on the paddle boards. gs214 by Jenseib, on Flickr gs216 by Jenseib, on Flickr They did have towels on each of the chairs too. gs218 by Jenseib, on Flickr They have a ton of cabanas and all were booked. I think many were for big wigs. I never looked to see if we had an option to get one or not. gs219 by Jenseib, on Flickr gs221 by Jenseib, on Flickr gs222 by Jenseib, on Flickr I crept up to one to get a few pictures before the guests arrived. gs224 by Jenseib, on Flickr gs225 by Jenseib, on Flickr gs94 by Jenseib, on Flickr It didn’t appear that their beach was private for them. gs95 by Jenseib, on Flickr gs96 by Jenseib, on Flickr Time for a terrible selfie! gs97 by Jenseib, on Flickr gs192 by Jenseib, on Flickr As I took a picture of this lunch truck someone told me that they had a picture of the day and you could show it to someone onboard and get a little prize. Today was the lunch truck. I never did do that, but I thought it was a neat idea. gs193 by Jenseib, on Flickr gs104 by Jenseib, on Flickr gs28 by Jenseib, on Flickr gs99 by Jenseib, on Flickr gs100 by Jenseib, on Flickr 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenseib Posted January 29, 2020 Author #37 Share Posted January 29, 2020 I then found cabanas that were ground level. gs101 by Jenseib, on Flickr gs102 by Jenseib, on Flickr And a little crab hanging out. gs194 by Jenseib, on Flickr They were doing tours of the upscale area, but I didn’t have time right now. I never did make it back since it was the far side and I didn’t feel like walking all the way back again. This is where they serve lunch. gs226 by Jenseib, on Flickr gs227 by Jenseib, on Flickr gs228 by Jenseib, on Flickr gs229 by Jenseib, on Flickr I went in search of where to meet for my excursion. It was not clearly labeled. gs230 by Jenseib, on Flickr I ended up asking and they pointed to where to go. gs233 by Jenseib, on Flickr They said they didn’t have a pig sign so to go to the stingray area. When I went there they said to go further down to another flag. I decided to take a potty break since I still had time and look around a little more. gs231 by Jenseib, on Flickr gs232 by Jenseib, on Flickr gs234 by Jenseib, on Flickr gs235 by Jenseib, on Flickr There is an area of shops. I didn’t have any cash with me and I think someone told me they only took cash in those little local stores. gs236 by Jenseib, on Flickr gs237 by Jenseib, on Flickr I then went and signed in for my pig excursion. gs106 by Jenseib, on Flickr The cruise before us told us this was the easiest one to get and still had availability even the day of. This cruise it sold out in hours. I heard people talking about trying to get into it and they were told to try to be waitlisted once they got on the island. We had several people waiting here in hopes to be added to the group. We were the first group and if they didn’t make this one they would have to come back each time a new group went and hope to be called. Also because there was no clear signage, many people went to the stingray tables as told at the excursion desk on the island, so it took a while to get everyone who was signed up to actually be in the right area. Eventually they did call several extra people to join the group. We had a long walk to get to the boats that would take us over to the island for the pig swim, but it wasn’t a bad walk. gs238 by Jenseib, on Flickr We boarded a couple of little boats and then they did a roll call. There ended up being 2 extras and they couldn’t figure out how they got with the group but they did allow them to come. And then we set off for a short boat ride over to Treasure Island. gs107 by Jenseib, on Flickr gs29 by Jenseib, on Flickr gs31 by Jenseib, on Flickr gs108 by Jenseib, on Flickr And soon we arrived. gs109 by Jenseib, on Flickr And pigs were chillaxing. gs32 by Jenseib, on Flickr Now they had a floating dock because of tides and the tide must have been low because going up the ramp was HARD! It was so steep! We made it up but I heard a lot of complaints about it. We then went onto the deck and waited for instructions, though the first one as we arrived was not to go near any pigs till he talked to us further. pig41 by Jenseib, on Flickr There were piglets everywhere and we just wanted to scoop them up and cuddle them! pig42 by Jenseib, on Flickr pig43 by Jenseib, on Flickr gs33 by Jenseib, on Flickr pig21 by Jenseib, on Flickr He then went on with the rules. pig23 by Jenseib, on Flickr We were not to touch the pigs unless they came to us. Especially the little ones. If they got upset they would squeal and let their mamas know they were being bothered and those mamas would not be happy and could charge. And if they were really worried they would let out a noise to the main pig boar. He was basically fenced in on the other side of the island with a big area to roam. He said if he got worried you would see trees moving and falling just like in Jurassic Park as he made his way over to see what was going on. LOL! To call the pigs, you could make a clicking noise with your tongue. When he did it, all the little pigs came running. It was so darn cute. If you didn’t have food though, they didn’t stick around long. pig46 by Jenseib, on Flickr He then explained how to feed the pigs pieces of apples off a skewer. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenseib Posted January 29, 2020 Author #38 Share Posted January 29, 2020 He then asked for some volunteers and they would have them lay down and sprinkle apple pieces all over them and the pigs would cover them eating the apples. It was hilarious. pig47 by Jenseib, on Flickr This gal is a social media influencer. pig48 by Jenseib, on Flickr I was asked.. ”Do you ever watch MSC videos? Well that’s her” Hmmm. I have never seen one with her in it and I did look when I got home, but still haven’t found any. pig50 by Jenseib, on Flickr pig52 by Jenseib, on Flickr Now there were signs saying no cameras in the swimming area. They take pictures to buy I believe. So they kept having us raise a hand with our camera or phone and then he would say put it down and leave it on the table. Then he would ask..”is that what you want to do?” and we would say no! And finally he said…OK then, take those cameras and take tons of pictures and post them on social media! Wooohooooo! This is not normal, but since it was a special sailing they were allowing us to promote their business! pig53 by Jenseib, on Flickr pig54 by Jenseib, on Flickr I debated my phone or camera but I decided camera since I knew it was 100% waterproof. pig55 by Jenseib, on Flickr Be prepared for a zillion pig pictures. pig1 by Jenseib, on Flickr pig56 by Jenseib, on Flickr We all got a skewer and put apple on it and the pigs would come and snatch it right off. They had a couple guys with baskets of apples in the water so we could refill easily. pig2 by Jenseib, on Flickr They kept reminding us that pigs will be pigs and they have no manners. pig57 by Jenseib, on Flickr If a pig happened to poop in the water you were to call out applesauce and they would come and clean it up right away. pig3 by Jenseib, on Flickr Come get some apple! pig4 by Jenseib, on Flickr Taking pictures of fast moving pigs was not an easy feat! pig58 by Jenseib, on Flickr pig61 by Jenseib, on Flickr pig62 by Jenseib, on Flickr pig64 by Jenseib, on Flickr pig6 by Jenseib, on Flickr pig8 by Jenseib, on Flickr pig7 by Jenseib, on Flickr pig9 by Jenseib, on Flickr pig10 by Jenseib, on Flickr The pigs had cute “pig names”…like Kevin Bacon and Wilbur. pig68 by Jenseib, on Flickr pig69 by Jenseib, on Flickr pig70 by Jenseib, on Flickr I believe this one is Kevin Bacon. He was super piggy and made the rounds to everyone quickly. pig72 by Jenseib, on Flickr pig73 by Jenseib, on Flickr They then offered to take pictures of everyone like the picture below. I got in line, posed and looked later only to find no picture. I think the guy didn’t know you had to push the button all the way down rather than halfway for it to just focus. UGH! pig75 by Jenseib, on Flickr pig77 by Jenseib, on Flickr 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenseib Posted January 29, 2020 Author #39 Share Posted January 29, 2020 Hello cutie! pig78 by Jenseib, on Flickr pig79 by Jenseib, on Flickr pig80 by Jenseib, on Flickr pig81 by Jenseib, on Flickr pig82 by Jenseib, on Flickr pig84 by Jenseib, on Flickr pig86 by Jenseib, on Flickr pig89 by Jenseib, on Flickr pig11 by Jenseib, on Flickr pig12 by Jenseib, on Flickr I tried to do selfies but with a camera it was hard. I also took a lot of pictures with my finger in it! If you look at my camera roll I have like 20-30 tried selfies. 99% bad! pig13 by Jenseib, on Flickr pig20 by Jenseib, on Flickr pig19 by Jenseib, on Flickr pig17 by Jenseib, on Flickr We spent what felt like a long time in with the pigs, but sadly our time was over and we had to get out and head back up to the deck. pig15 by Jenseib, on Flickr There was an adorable piglet pile right by the deck! pig14 by Jenseib, on Flickr pig91 by Jenseib, on Flickr pig24 by Jenseib, on Flickr gs35 by Jenseib, on Flickr They were now super friendly knowing we may have food. pig27 by Jenseib, on Flickr pig28 by Jenseib, on Flickr Those piglets are just sooooo cute! pig30 by Jenseib, on Flickr So as we are all drying off a few pigs started getting frisky down on the shore. We were all laughing hysterically. The guy said to post it to social media hashtagging it “pigporn”. pig32 by Jenseib, on Flickr They told us it really was mostly girl on girl. Hahahaha pig35 by Jenseib, on Flickr Ummmm…someone needs to explain the birds and the bees to these guys. pig93 by Jenseib, on Flickr And look at the little piglets just running around. pig36 by Jenseib, on Flickr pig37 by Jenseib, on Flickr pig94 by Jenseib, on Flickr It looked so beautiful! pig95 by Jenseib, on Flickr pig39 by Jenseib, on Flickr And a few of these guys were all tired out now. pig26 by Jenseib, on Flickr Then it was time to head back down to the boats. The ramp was still really steep, but we made it! pig40 by Jenseib, on Flickr 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenseib Posted January 29, 2020 Author #40 Share Posted January 29, 2020 The water color was just gorgeous! gs113 by Jenseib, on Flickr gs114 by Jenseib, on Flickr When we got back, the next tour was waiting to jump in our boats and head over. I am glad we had the first one of the day. I am not sure if the pigs get full or not, but at least we had them super hungry! This is one of the best excursions I have ever taken. It was a bucketlist thing for me and I enjoyed it so much. I would do it again if I ever get back to Great Stirrup Cay. We walked back to the main part of the island at our own leisure and I took a few more pictures. gs239 by Jenseib, on Flickr gs240 by Jenseib, on Flickr I decided it was time for a Mango Meltdown! gs241 by Jenseib, on Flickr gs242 by Jenseib, on Flickr MMMMM! gs115 by Jenseib, on Flickr I found a seat and just enjoyed my drink. gs116 by Jenseib, on Flickr I got to talking to the lady next to me. She had been on the cruise before as an invite and then she won this cruise so she really got to enjoy the ship. She said she was trying different things each time, but this sailing was nicer than the one before. I went and found some lunch after a bit. I really wanted some potato salad but it wasn’t meant to be. I didn’t think they had much of a selection, but I grabbed a few things and ate. gs112 by Jenseib, on Flickr I ended up only eating a portion of it. I wanted fries or something else and this was not hitting the spot. I did have a beautiful view though. gs36 by Jenseib, on Flickr I decided to leave then. I didn’t want to swim by myself and I figured I should check in with Cass. Who knows what kind of trouble she is getting herself into! LOL. I made a potty stop before leaving and the potty lady was hilarious! She was moving people through fast and cracking jokes. She said she had over 5000 people there the other day with 2 ships in port and there just is not time to dog around when you need to move that many people through the bathrooms! gs37 by Jenseib, on Flickr gs118 by Jenseib, on Flickr They have 4 tenders, but only 2 were running. I don’t know if they only run 2 per ship or since our sailing had less people they only ran 2. gs119 by Jenseib, on Flickr gs38 by Jenseib, on Flickr gs39 by Jenseib, on Flickr gs40 by Jenseib, on Flickr Back on the ship, I found Cass and we chatted a bit and I got cleaned up and into fresh clothes. She did a lot of exploring today and also swam on the ship I believe. One of the options they had for this cruise was touring several different types of rooms. I kept meaning to do it, but it’s hard to fit everything in….and rest! I decided I better do it now and get it over with. I knew I would regret it later if I didn’t. I took a lot of pictures, but I’ll just post a few. gs41 by Jenseib, on Flickr This room was huge and looked over the front of the ship. gs120 by Jenseib, on Flickr The cast of Kinky Boots were out there and they were dancing around and having fun. gs44 by Jenseib, on Flickr This room was similar to ours. Some rooms have the bed when you walk in and others have the couch first. gs45 by Jenseib, on Flickr I believe this is one of the single studio rooms. gs49 by Jenseib, on Flickr gs50 by Jenseib, on Flickr It’s perfect for the single traveler or one that is going with family but they only need a room for just themselves. gs51 by Jenseib, on Flickr gs52 by Jenseib, on Flickr gs53 by Jenseib, on Flickr I tried doing video in these rooms but there was a guy touring on the same route as me and he would talk EVERY single time I would start to video. They also have a lounge for the single travelers staying in these studios. gs62 by Jenseib, on Flickr gs126 by Jenseib, on Flickr gs127 by Jenseib, on Flickr gs63 by Jenseib, on Flickr Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenseib Posted January 29, 2020 Author #41 Share Posted January 29, 2020 And this is an inside regular room. gs129 by Jenseib, on Flickr I have actually earned another free cruise through Norwegian and we will be sailing on the Joy this summer. This is the type of room we have been assigned. It’s small, but we will be fine with just the 2 of us. Our room only holds a max of 2, so we shouldn’t have those bunks on the sides of the walls like this room does. gs130 by Jenseib, on Flickr And the bathroom is a nice size too, so that will make a big difference! gs64 by Jenseib, on Flickr This particular room had a different shower and set up. gs73 by Jenseib, on Flickr And another different set up stateroom gs75 by Jenseib, on Flickr gs137 by Jenseib, on Flickr gs139 by Jenseib, on Flickr I looked out and the Kinky Boots cast were still out there. gs77 by Jenseib, on Flickr I toured all but 1 room on the list. Most look pretty much the same as my room, some without a balcony, but just different locations on the ship. The final room I decided not to look at because it was so far away and up several floors. I was tired! It was now close to sail away time. gs134 by Jenseib, on Flickr Cass messaged me to go down to the guest services desk as they had some pads of paper and buttons, so I did just that. gs140 by Jenseib, on Flickr gs78 by Jenseib, on Flickr And I got wild and ordered a cocktail! gs141 by Jenseib, on Flickr I met back up with Cass then and I was needing a snack. I didn’t eat much on the island and I wanted something before dinner time. My idea was good in theory. We went to the local and I think they forgot about me as it took forever and a reminder from us to actually bring the food. gs142 by Jenseib, on Flickr It was tasty and hit the spot, but it took way too long. We then watched the beautiful sky as we got ready to sail away. gs143 by Jenseib, on Flickr I think we actually got separated and I went to find Cass and she went to find me and we kept missing each other. gs144 by Jenseib, on Flickr gs145 by Jenseib, on Flickr I went on to take some more pictures as I was looking for Cass. gs79 by Jenseib, on Flickr gs80 by Jenseib, on Flickr gs146 by Jenseib, on Flickr A sunset at sea is one of the most beautiful and peaceful things ever!!! gs148 by Jenseib, on Flickr I think I went and gambled a little to use up that $20 from last night since I never used it! Then it was time for dinner and we decided on the Manhattan dining room tonight. As we made our way there we noticed the Skyline bar, a place we had not noticed at all yet. gs149 by Jenseib, on Flickr gs150 by Jenseib, on Flickr We got seated fast and made our orders. gs151 by Jenseib, on Flickr gs153 by Jenseib, on Flickr The food was good again tonight for me. The dessert was just Meh. The ice cream was great but the deep fried pockets needed powdered sugar on them. gs154 by Jenseib, on Flickr This wasn’t too bad. gs155 by Jenseib, on Flickr We had reservations for Choir of Man tonight, so Cass ran off to water pick her teeth while I finished up and then we met back up to head to the theatre. We like the end of a row but all the ones in the location we wanted were full, so we went in a few seats and sat down. We allowed one seat between Cass and the people at the end of the row for personal space. gs160 by Jenseib, on Flickr The cast will come out early and invite the audience up for a beer. gs161 by Jenseib, on Flickr I do like beer and Cass insisted I go up. Twist my arm! gs162 by Jenseib, on Flickr gs163 by Jenseib, on Flickr Cheers! gs158 by Jenseib, on Flickr Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenseib Posted January 29, 2020 Author #42 Share Posted January 29, 2020 See the good looking guy in the maroon shirt? That’s Mark…he talked to me! Swoon….. gs156 by Jenseib, on Flickr Cass also already noticed that hot looking guy too! Hahaha. gs81 by Jenseib, on Flickr Now see the guy in the previous picture who is kind of bleached out and behind Mark. I totally forget his name, but he and a group of people sat next to me. They did not leave a seat between us and they had plenty of room in the row to do so. That guy was on top of me the whole show! And he was talkative….to the point of annoying. I am friendly, but I don’t need to talk to someone else when my friend is right next to me at a show. This guy reminded me of my friend’s brother and I thought he was pretty cute too. gs83 by Jenseib, on Flickr So the show starts and I snuck pictures and videos throughout…..Only to find out towards the end that they allowed it! Had I known that I would have taken WAY more! gs164 by Jenseib, on Flickr Choir of Man is basically a group of guys in their Irish bar who sing and dance….kind of the locals of the bar and know everyone. It has a great mix of music and the dancing and stunts are great! gs165 by Jenseib, on Flickr They jump all over and sing and play music. Amazing!!! gs166 by Jenseib, on Flickr This guy came and sat by us as the show was starting and then headed up on stage. gs167 by Jenseib, on Flickr gs168 by Jenseib, on Flickr They had some people from the audience come up as well. gs170 by Jenseib, on Flickr gs169 by Jenseib, on Flickr This guy tapped dance all around and was good! gs171 by Jenseib, on Flickr gs172 by Jenseib, on Flickr This guy was looking for a new love and they asked if anyone wanted to be with him and some lady gets up dancing (and I think drunk) and is waving all over and says yes. He looks at her and says…ahhh no! It was so hysterical. gs173 by Jenseib, on Flickr gs175 by Jenseib, on Flickr We then moved on to the Urinal scene. gs174 by Jenseib, on Flickr gs178 by Jenseib, on Flickr gs179 by Jenseib, on Flickr gs176 by Jenseib, on Flickr gs177 by Jenseib, on Flickr gs180 by Jenseib, on Flickr gs181 by Jenseib, on Flickr gs182 by Jenseib, on Flickr gs183 by Jenseib, on Flickr gs184 by Jenseib, on Flickr gs84 by Jenseib, on Flickr gs85 by Jenseib, on Flickr gs185 by Jenseib, on Flickr The show was AMAZING!!!! Probably one of the best cruise line shows I have ever seen. It was so much fun and these guys are talented!!!! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenseib Posted January 29, 2020 Author #43 Share Posted January 29, 2020 We made our way out and Cass noticed the Kinky Boot cast, so I stopped for a selfie. gs188 by Jenseib, on Flickr Cass’s version is better. gs187 by Jenseib, on Flickr The Choir of Man cast was outside waiting so we went to the side that had Mark. We found his picture but it didn’t really look a lot like him. gs189 by Jenseib, on Flickr I crept right in between Mark and the other guy I thought was cute. Hahahaha. gs190 by Jenseib, on Flickr We got back to the room and found some gifts waiting for us. gs86 by Jenseib, on Flickr It was fine oil, salt and balsamic vinegar. gs87 by Jenseib, on Flickr I have tried them at home and they are really good! Cass has limited luggage space and had to move things around to get them home, but I think she managed. It was our last night, so I decided to go gamble another $20 or so and lost as usual. I took a few more pictures before I headed back to the room for the night. gs243 by Jenseib, on Flickr gs244 by Jenseib, on Flickr And we crashed then. Tomorrow we had to head home. It was just such a short cruise. I was happy to have been part of it all, but it was WAY to short! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenseib Posted January 31, 2020 Author #44 Share Posted January 31, 2020 Nov. 24, 2019, Going Home I didn’t take too many pictures today. It was the typical “it sucks we have to go home kind of day!”. We were already in port when we woke up. mia3 by Jenseib, on Flickr mia2 by Jenseib, on Flickr I believe I got a quick breakfast and just enjoyed the last of my time on the ship. mia4 by Jenseib, on Flickr We were in no rush to get off and kind of lounged around till it looked like the line wasn’t too bad to get off. We wound around and went through the arcade. mia5 by Jenseib, on Flickr Wait??? There’s an arcade? Cass laughed and said yes! We walked through it when we boarded too! Hahaha. I was so set on following her to see about dining reservations, etc, that I didn’t take in what we walked through. mia6 by Jenseib, on Flickr We made our way off and through customs and then to find where we could catch an Uber. A new batch of people were getting to arrive to sail on the first official “real” sailing of the Encore. mia7 by Jenseib, on Flickr mia8 by Jenseib, on Flickr We made it to the airport easily and I checked in at my terminal and Cass had to walk a little ways to go to hers. We were then going to meet up for lunch. I had a small line, but it wasn’t bad. Once I got my bags checked, the guy kind of stood there waiting for a tip….very obviously. Now I usually give a couple bucks when I check bags in if I see a tip jar, but this seemed like pressure and I quickly set my tickets aside and fumbled for a few bills. I am pretty sure I shoved the tickets in my back pocket…..maybe? I had a little time till Cass got through her line so I walked around a bit and then used the bathroom and walked a bit more and she arrived at my area and we decided on Margaritaville for lunch. We got right in and we both ordered the club. If we were smart, we would have shared it as it really is too big for one. mia9 by Jenseib, on Flickr We chatted and enjoyed the last of our time together. We both boxed the rest of our sandwiches up and took them with us. I figured I would eat mine during my layover. We paid and headed out and I went for my tickets. Hmmm not in my pocket. Looked through my bag…Nope. Shoot! I lost them somewhere. Did they fall out of my pocket while I walked around? In the bathroom? At Margaritaville? I did a swoop around just to check but no sign of them. It wasn’t a huge deal because I could pull up my boarding passes on my phone. However, they bag claim sticker was on one of them. One thing I did see on United’s app was that you could track your bags and the claim number did show up, so I went to that and did a screen shot just to be safe. We went our separate ways and I took a seat at my gate and read some magazines and listened in on others and people watched. There was a lady standing in line to board before I even arrived and she stood there the whole time! Over an hour!!! Her husband would come and go. I assumed they needed extra help for boarding, but seriously, sit and wait till the call those who need help to come up. That’s them…first in line! mia10 by Jenseib, on Flickr Boarding started and they got on right away and I waited for my boarding to be called and got in line. I went to my seat, which was a window…..and guess who is in my row? The wife. Now United boarded with window seats first, then middle then aisle. These 2 each had an aisle seat across from each other. When I motioned that this was my row I got a dirty look that she had to stand up. Now I already know she loves to stand….she did it for an hour already. Hahaha. And she had to know that being in an aisle seat she would have to get up to let others on. This flight was full too. No luck on an empty middle seat this time around. The young lady next to me was tiny though and slept the whole time. It was kind of funny as she would kind of lean on me at times and then realizes it and move to another position. They also were moving some flight crew and the girl behind me was one of those. We waited and then they announced that they had some maintenance to do on the plane before we could leave. I am all for a safe plane, but I knew I had a pretty short time between my connections. I texted home to let Claire know that I might not make it and there is a chance I will be on the later flight home. This was also the lovely weather outside currently. mia11 by Jenseib, on Flickr Finally we pulled out and they said they would try to make up time in the air, but for those with short connections, check your app, because United may have already changed your flight. I took a look and was listed for my current flight…and the one later (several hours later actually). I asked the girl behind me and she said most likely I would be on the next flight, but they are keeping my spot on the current one too. I just figured there was nothing I could do about it, so why worry. I was not looking to spend several hours in the airport, but I would live. When we landed, it still showed both flights, but would not let me pull up the boarding pass for either. The flight attendant told me to check in at the desk when I get off and they will get me to the correct spot. And of course I was in the back of the plane. Even if I wanted to do the mad dash, I couldn’t. The “lady” on the aisle was so worried that I wouldn’t make my flight, but I told her it is what it is. I got off and went to the desk and she typed some info in and said yes, no, yes, no, not sure if you can make it as it’s in a different building and it’s pass boarding time. The lady next to her said, let me see and pulled up something else and said “they are holding the plane for you…run! Ah…ok…where? She directed me to the shuttle and I got on…and waited till it filled. So much for hurrying. Once it took us over to the correct area I hurried to my gate. I let them know I don’t have a physical boarding pass and she had me pull out my ID and printed it and handed it off. Then they said the carryon had to be gate checked. Shoot! I have an expensive camera. They told me to quickly take that out and they would take the suitcase and I could carry the camera bag on. I then have to head outside to board this plane. Thank God I was not the only one! There were 2 others behind me. Of course it is super embarrassing when you are one of the last boarding a plane and they all know it was held up because of you….and not to mention…I had no chance to go to the bathroom between flights. When I sat down, I told my seat mate (only 2 per row on this flight) that I was not technically late, it was my flight and they had told us we would be rescheduled, but when we landed I found out the plane was being held. I sure felt stupid! I did text Claire and let her know I was on the flight home! I made it! Luckily this flight wasn’t too long and soon we were coming back into Detroit! mia1 by Jenseib, on Flickr I had been tracking my bag as well and it made it too! I couldn’t believe it! When we landed I made my way off and was in no rush to get to the bags. I knew it would take a few minutes. Welcome back to reality! The weather let me know it was definitely not Florida! Once I got my bag, I texted for my shuttle to take me back to the car park and made my way over there. It came fairly fast and soon I was reunited with my car and on my way home, with a stop at McDonalds to load up on dinner and a much needed diet coke! I came home to a daughter that missed me and I shared with her some of the treats I had gotten at the christening. She was devouring the macaroons! And then back to real life and just a few days later I took my husband in for a shoulder replacement, then Thanksgiving, then the Christmas holidays and a January work trip to Universal Orlando…..so yeah…I am still trying to catch up with life! Hahah. Thanks for reading along! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brigand13 Posted January 31, 2020 #45 Share Posted January 31, 2020 This has been a really fun read! You've totally made me want to cruise on the Encore if only for the shows! I've heard nothing but good things about Choir of Man and Kinky Boots sounds like a blast! Thanks for the thorough recount of your adventure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AKR2011 Posted February 1, 2020 #46 Share Posted February 1, 2020 Thanks for the review as always! Enjoy the rest of your winter, and I'll be looking forward to your review of The Joy! 🙂 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arzeena Posted February 1, 2020 #47 Share Posted February 1, 2020 Enjoyed the read and the pictures. Thanks for posting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenseib Posted February 1, 2020 Author #48 Share Posted February 1, 2020 17 hours ago, brigand13 said: This has been a really fun read! You've totally made me want to cruise on the Encore if only for the shows! I've heard nothing but good things about Choir of Man and Kinky Boots sounds like a blast! Thanks for the thorough recount of your adventure. Thanks for reading! 1 hour ago, AKR2011 said: Thanks for the review as always! Enjoy the rest of your winter, and I'll be looking forward to your review of The Joy! 🙂 I'm excited to sail her. I have been working on my flights lately...not impressed with those costs! 28 minutes ago, Arzeena said: Enjoyed the read and the pictures. Thanks for posting. Thank you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amelia3171 Posted February 1, 2020 #49 Share Posted February 1, 2020 Long, picture heavy reviews are my favourite, thank you. 3 times on NCL and I've never noticed the cream, will be looking out for it day 1 breakfast this October. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toothy26 Posted February 3, 2020 #50 Share Posted February 3, 2020 Loved your review! It was very entertaining. I will be cruising on the Encore in October. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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